8.25.2010

Wow! Ok so here's the deal ... I've been blessed with the opportunity to start purchasing gemstones from a mining family in Kenya! One of their family members, that lives and works in here in the US with my husband, was wonderful enough to introduce us when he learned of my jewelry making.

His family owns land all over Kenya. I am so Excited! The land is owned by the family we purchase from and worked by independent miners who come in with their own tools and start digging! There is not guerrilla war fare, corrupt government, or greedy corporate miners involved at all.

We are lucky to have found eachother. They have amazing quality stones. And as you will see in the coming months, even the raw unprocessed stones have a beauty that is rarely found in untreated stones!

The pictures in this post are the first of many pieces made with the rough gemstones from Kenya. These are just the initial samples of uncut stones from Kenya.

I have also been fortunate to meet a Master Gemstone Cutter right here in Florida. Lloyd Forrester, of Clear Cut Gems is a talented gemstone cutter originally from South Africa. He started as to be expected in the diamond cutting trade. But lucky for me he has switched to colored gemstones.

We both have a great sense of ethics and responsibility to our world, not only the Earth we live on, but the people on it as well! I couldn't have asked for a better situation!

I am unbelievably stoked about the future and everything this means to all of us.